Champion
by TheRedScreech
Summary: When you're a teenage, mutant, ninja turtle, childhood games suddenly become more…interesting.
Thanks to Crystal Star Night for the prompt. It's hide and seek/tag with a ninja twist. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Champion

Summary: When you're a teenage, mutant, ninja turtle, childhood games suddenly become more…interesting.

"Ichi…ni…san…yon…"

Three of the four turtle brothers scattered in different directions on silent feet. The fourth stood in the middle of the living room, eyes closed with his hands over his ear-holes.

"…ju…ju ichi…ju ni…"

Shadows melted into shadows and held still. Nictitating membranes didn't even show in the dark. Save for a lamp on the coffee table in the living room, no lights were on at all.

"Ni ju! Ready or not, here I come!"

Except the turtle didn't move from his spot for a moment. He swept his bo staff off his shell and stood still, head cocked slightly to hear…everything: the faint and rhythmic drip-drip of water, the quiet whir of machines and a computer in the laboratory on the other side of the lair… and the ghostly breathing off to his left. He smiled and snapped his head around to the right, as if he'd heard a sudden sound. He brought his staff up in a cross guard and slid his right foot back into a stance, still facing in the wrong direction. The breathing (now behind him) neared. He backed up a step and now his right foot led the stance he was in. He exhaled silently, waited, and then shifted and swung his bo in a perfect arc, catching the ghost in the shell when he tried to turn. An orange tag fluttered within easy reach and Donatello snagged it.

"Ichi!" he announced triumphantly as Michelangelo voiced a complaining "Aww, man!" and slumped to the floor, cross-legged.

Donnie purposefully turned to face his youngest brother head-on, noticing but not acknowledging the whisper-quiet steps behind him. "You always fall for that trick, Mike," he chortled, his bo loose in his hands.

He shifted his weight and delivered a flawless side kick straight into Raphael's gut. Planting one end of the bo in the floor, he vaulted over his stumbling and winded brother and snatched the red tag from his belt upon landing. "And you always fall for that one, Raph," he chided. "Ni!"

Raph plumped himself down beside Mikey with a smirk. "Let's see you win against Splinter Junior, then," he groused.

Don immediately looked up. His elder brother, Leo, enjoyed disappearing amongst the piping and then dropping down from above.

"Yeah!" Mikey added. "Leo's been the undefeated champion since we first played! Good luck, Donnie!"

"It's not luck," Don retorted, still gazing about. "It's skill. Isn't that right, Leo?"

"Perfectly sound reasoning, Donatello." It was impossible to tell where the voice came from, and Don mentally kicked himself for showing Leo that ventriloquism video two years ago; his elder brother had worked tirelessly to perfect the art and used it often in training, games and even battle. It was annoying beyond belief.

Inching his way out of the small circle of light, Don kept his eyes open. While he had been successful in eliminating his younger brothers from the game by sound, he knew such a technique would be futile against Leo. Sight wasn't much better but at least it gave him something to work with.

"Colder, colder. Oh, so cold right now, Donnie." Leo's voice rebounded off the pipes and walls, impossible to locate, especially if he was throwing it.

The funny thing about Leo was that he never lied. So even if he was mocking him mercilessly, Don knew his brother spoke truth. He sidled back the way he'd come and was rewarded with a chuckled, "Warmer…"

There was no sound to indicate an approach, no hint of movement, but somewhere in his fingertips or maybe the nerve-endings of his soul, Donnie felt the air _shift_.

Don dodged to the side just in time to avoid leaf-green fingers reaching for his purple tag, swinging his bo up at the same time. He connected – with what, he wasn't sure – and regained his balance.

A brush of air on his left. He ducked and instead of rolling away as was logical, he threw his body forward, closer to Leo. He momentarily caught Leo's wide-eyed look before he twisted and snapped his bo behind his brother's ankles, sending him sprawling. Except Leo was too good to sprawl. He fell on his shell and rolled up onto his shoulder blades, using his hands to push off the floor and flip onto his feet.

"Yame!" Splinter's voice sounded through the lair.

Don, about to lunge forward and meet his brother's next attempt at his tag, froze at the command and lowered his staff.

Sensei strode from a shadowed doorway, his black eyes gleaming in the minimal light. A clap of his hands brought the lights up and Donnie blinked rapidly.

"Why'd ya end the game, Sensei?" Raph asked. "It was just getting' good."

"I was not the one who ended the game, Raphael." Those gleaming, onyx eyes fell on Don, and the rat smiled. "Well done, Donatello."

Don blinked again, though this time it had nothing to do with sudden bright lights. In his left hand was a blue tag.

Donnie didn't hear the surprised exclamations of his younger brothers or his father's praise. His attention was focused on the strip of blue fabric clenched in his fingers until someone stepped in front of him. Slowly, the purple-masked ninja lifted his eyes to navy ones.

His elder brother smiled at him as he said, "It seems we have a new champion."

-:-

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